1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to gun stocks used with shoulder-fired weapon.
2. Related Art
Since the advent of shoulder-fired weaponry, such as guns, the use of a stock for holding the barrel and firing mechanisms of the weapon has been a standard practice. Typically, a stock made of wood, plastic, or metal extends rearward from the firing mechanism a certain distance, creating what is often referred to as a xe2x80x9cgun buttxe2x80x9d portion. This gun butt portion is used to stabilize the weapon by the user pressing the gun butt against his/her shoulder while aiming and firing the weapon.
Standard rifles and other shoulder-fired weapons customarily have stocks with a butt portion located a particular distance from the trigger, often referred to as a pull length. The pull length distance for the standard rifle is based on the arm length of an xe2x80x9caverage user.xe2x80x9d A difficulty arises when a user of size smaller than the hypothetical xe2x80x9caverage userxe2x80x9d attempts to use such a weapon. The difficulty is due to the fact that for these smaller individuals, the butt portion of the stock, which is held against the front of the user""s shoulder, is too far from the trigger for the user to comfortably reach the trigger and/or properly and safely operate the weapon.
What is needed is an adjustable gun stock and a system for allowing smaller gun users to operate such a firearm. A system is needed that would also allow the gun with adjustable gun stock to be adjusted so that an average size, or even larger-than-average size, user would also be able to use the weapon. There are various collapsible style gun stocks (U.S. Pat. No. 2,462,091; U.S. Pat. No. 3,256,632; U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,249; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,539) and at least one telescoping style gun stock (U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,162). None of these prior art devices allow for finite adjustment of the distance from the butt to the trigger. Such adjustments would allow the rifle or other weapon to be customized to a particular user""s body frame. The present invention addresses these and other needs.
The present invention comprises an extendible shoulder piece for a weapon. Further, the invention may comprise a method of using this extendible shoulder piece within a shooting system for use by adolescents, and an invented bi-pod for use with a weapon that stabilizes the front end of the weapon.
The preferred embodiment of the extendible shoulder piece is added to the rearward end of a gun stock that is rearwardly-shortened. The weapon""s xe2x80x9cshortened stockxe2x80x9d is shortened relative to the conventional xe2x80x9caveragexe2x80x9d gun stock, either by removal of a rear portion of the conventional gun stock, or by fabrication of the gun stock during original manufacture to purposely be short. Alternatively, one may see that the extendible shoulder piece may also be molded, carved, or otherwise formed as an integral part of the gun stock, in the general location of, and replacing, a conventional gun butt. The preferred extendible shoulder piece is connected to the shortened gun stock just behind the grip portion of the stock, which is gripped by the user during shooting and which is adjacent to the weapon""s trigger guard.
The invented shoulder piece has a butt plate, at its rearmost end, that has a generally vertical rear surface for abutting against the user""s shoulder. The butt plate is adjustably connected to the shortened gun stock, preferably by means of a telescoping connection that can be securely locked and easily unlocked for adjusting the shoulder piece to fit various users. Preferably, the adjustable connection comprises an upper connector that extends longitudinally rearward from the shortened gun stock slightly below the longitudinal axis of the barrel and slightly below the sights of the gun. Preferably, the adjustable connection also comprises a lower connector that extends longitudinally rearward from the bottom end of the grip portion of the gun stock, so that the lower connector is distanced a maximum amount from the upper connector, to maximize the height of the extendible shoulder piece to stabilize the butt plate on the shoulder and to stabilize the butt plate relative to the connectors and the gun stock. By providing the maximally-spaced upper and lower connectors with a long butt plate (measured vertically between the top edge and the bottom edge of the butt plate) and by attaching the upper and lower connectors near the top edge and bottom edge of the butt plate, respectively, the forces exerted on the butt plate during use are less prone to pivot or leverage the butt plate off of the shoulder and less prone to damage or wear the invented shoulder piece and its connection to the gun stock by that same pivoting/leverage.
In some embodiments, maximizing the distance between the upper and lower connectors is also important for maximizing the open space between the upper connector and the lower connector that provides room for the user""s hand. This way, the user""s hand may extend into the open space for operating lock or latch mechanisms to adjust the shoulder piece, or, in some embodiments, may rest in part of the open space as part of the gripping action during shooting. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper connector is a telescoping first tube system, and the lower connector is a telescoping second tube system. The first tube system extends rearward from the upper region of the grip portion of the gun stock, and the second tube system extends rearward from the lower extremity, that is, the lowermost end, of the lower region of the grip portion. In some embodiments, wherein the lower region of the grip portion is a hand-hold member that extends downward in a definite pistol-grip style (see FIG. 1), both the thumb and fingers would curl around the hand-hold member, and the thumb and part of the hand extends into the open space between the first tube system and the second tube system. In other embodiments of gun stocks, the grip portion curves downward and rearward in a more gradual and subtle manner that is called herein a non-pistol-style grip (See FIGS. 5A-8B), creating a different look and feel from the pistol grip. In the non-pistol-grip style, the user""s thumb curls around the upper region of that grip portion, the user""s fingers curls around the lower region, and no part of the user""s hand needs to extend into the open space between the first tube system and second tube system. In the non-pistol-style grip, the first and second tube systems tend to be closer together than in the pistol-style grip. This is because the upper region (to which the first tube system is attached) and the lowermost extremity of the grip (to which the second tube system is attached) are not as far apart as in the pistol-style grip embodiments, and, also, there is no need for the hand to extend into the open space between the tube systems. Therefore, to increase the total height (vertical dimension) of the butt plate, the butt plate preferably extends down below the second tube system to increase butt plate length and total area of the rear surface of the butt plate.
Therefore, an objection of the invented extendible shoulder piece is to provide a more stable and reliable extendible gun stock that in prior art attempts at extending gun stocks. One way the invention accomplishes this is to adapt the shoulder piece for attachment to the short gun stock so that the upper connector is positioned to be below the barrel longitudinal axis of the weapon for being a cheek rest for a user. Further, the hand-hold member lower extremity and the lower connector extending rearward from the hand-hold member lower extremity are preferably positioned to be a lowermost extremity of the weapon, that is, the structure of the weapon that extends the farthest downward when the weapon is in the generally horizontal position as shown, for example, in FIG. 5A. In embodiments that include a butt plate that extends below the lower connector, the lower extremity of the hand-hold member and the lower connector extending rearward from the hand-hold member lower extremity are preferably the lowermost extremity of the weapon forward from the butt plate, that is, the lowermost extremity of the weapon except for the butt plate and any bipod or tripod.
Each telescoping tube system may comprise a support rod member sliding into a support tube member, and a lock for securing preferably each tube system. For example, the lock may comprise a thumb screw/set screw extending through an orifice in the support tube member to tighten down against the support rod member. The locks prevents collapse or extension of the tubes and rods in relation to each other as the weapon fires.
Optionally, the invented extendible shoulder piece is used on a firearm in combination with a support means for the front of the firearm. The preferred support means for the front of the firearm is a bipod of adjustable height. The combination of adjustable-height bipod and adjustable-length firearm stock allows an adult, instructing an adolescent in the proper firing of a weapon, to properly position the firearm so that the adolescent may fire it and both adult and adolescent may be more sure of a safe firearm operation.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description wherein I have shown and described only preferred embodiments of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various respects without departing from the invention.